The Kingfisher Memorial Library held another Mad Science program in the library community room on Tuesday, June 9th. There was a strong turnout of kids and parents in attendance, all watching a series of engaging science demonstrations that brought key physics and chemistry concepts to life.
One of the activities featured a dinosaur-themed obstacle race that demonstrated kinetic and potential energy in action. As kids representing dinosaurs moved through the course, they showed how energy shifts between stored energy such as when paused at higher points or before movement and motion energy as they traveled through the obstacles. This helped illustrate how energy is constantly being converted from potential energy to kinetic energy and back again throughout motion.
Other demonstrations included a balloon experiment showing how stress distribution affects whether a balloon pops or can withstand puncture, and the classic elephant toothpaste reaction, where hydrogen peroxide rapidly decomposed in the presence of a catalyst to produce a large eruption of foam.
A leaf blower and ping pong ball setup was also used to show how moving air can create lift and motion, demonstrating basic principles of aerodynamics. The final demonstration acted as a playful asteroid impact simulation, with ping pong balls driven by airflow representing asteroids and Mrs. Audry representing Earth. In a memorable moment, Mrs. Audry took one for the team as she was struck by the ping pong balls during the demonstration, helping illustrate how asteroid impacts occur and how objects in space can collide with planetary surfaces.
Overall, the program offered a visually engaging introduction to scientific concepts, using live demonstrations to spark curiosity and show how physics and chemistry operate in everyday phenomena.
Photos by AAK Maitland Woody.
